iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 19h

I am SO EXCITED to be chatting with Lindsey about her fabulous new book! Come and join us, it’s going to be a brilliant night!

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Surgeons' Hall Museum @surgeonshall.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

We’re joined by @anatomicalcat.bsky.social to uncover London’s Great Windmill Street Anatomy Theatre- an 18th century hub that helped transform anatomical teaching and how we see the body. Listen wherever you get your podcasts! shows.acast.com/beyond-the-k...

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AJ, foraging edition @uisgebeatha.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

More guest entertaining funtimes yesterday: a brilliant talk from @anatomicalcat.bsky.social at Surgeon's Hall along with the best museum merch, a nostalgic Mosque Kitchen trip and Paradise Palms being their supportive self 🫡🏳️‍⚧️

A plush uterus that has eyes, as do the ovaries

A kawaii womb badge with the caption 'cuterus'

The plush avocado at Mosque Kitchen with a chicken tikka masala and lychee juice

A hand dryer with a Wizards For Trans Rights sticker, that has a wizard in a purple robe and hat, fishnets and blue ankle boots

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Surgeons' Hall Museum @surgeonshall.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Join us on Thursday for another fascinating lunchtime talk! @anatomicalcat.bsky.social explores the remarkable story of the Great Windmill Street Anatomy School, one of the most important centres for anatomical teaching in eighteenth-century London. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lunch-time...

Image of an etching of the Great Windmill Street Anatomy School placed on a background made to look like old paper. There is text that reads Lunch Time Talk: The Great Windmill Street Anatomy School. Thursday 10 September. 1.15pm

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Daniel Pietersen @pietersender.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Lugs a-flappin

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Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

What's this I see before me... a Romancing the Gothic online conference!!!! With discounted tickets for the next two weeks!!!! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/more-terro...

eventbrite.co.uk

'More Terrors Than Her Reason Could Justify': An Online Gothic Conference

This year we celebrate 200 years since Ann Radcliffe's posthumous publications with a conference on marginalised genders in the Gothic

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I’m going to be in conversation with Maddy Pelling next week, talking about hoaxes and medical history!

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Daniel Pietersen @pietersender.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

A very happy wedding anniversary to my beloved Contessa, pictured here lying in wait for an unsuspecting maid. Whether she’s terrorising the staff or terrifying the villages, nobody else could do it with the same level of aplomb, élan or, indeed, aggression.

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Surgeons' Hall Museum @surgeonshall.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Join us for an engaging Zoom talk with historian and author Madeleine Pelling discussing her new book, Hoax. Madeleine will be in conversation with @anatomicalcat.bsky.social, exploring the fascinating history of hoaxes, frauds, and fakes. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dissecting...

Teal gradient background with oversized black letters spelling HOAX filled by a vintage engraved woman's face. There is white text around the large letters which reads: Dissecting the author with Madeleine Pelling. Online Event. Thursday 16 July. 7pm.

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Surgeons' Hall Museum @surgeonshall.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

In this fascinating lunchtime talk, @anatomicalcat.bsky.social explores the remarkable story of the Great Windmill Street Anatomy School, one of the most important centres for anatomical teaching in eighteenth-century London. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lunch-time...

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Daniel Pietersen @pietersender.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

La Contessa, making her rounds of Castle Pieterstein’s grounds, always delights in pausing at the Mirrormere to remember all those whom she has drowned.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

On the latest episode of After Dark featuring me as co-host, Anthony and I are having a calm chat about venereal disease. Horrified? You will be… m.youtube.com/watch?v=iRDB...

m.youtube.com

The Gruesome History of Sexual Diseases

YouTube video by After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds and the Paranormal

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Surgeons' Hall Museum @surgeonshall.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

In this episode, we’re joined by@anatomicalcat.bsky.social as she explores the long and often bizarre history of gonorrhoea, from early diagnoses and eye-watering treatments to the strange phenomenon of “smurf syndrome.” Listen wherever you get your podcasts! shows.acast.com/beyond-the-k...

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

You can also get more Burke and Hare at this lecture that took place at the Physicians’ Gallery last week with me, Janet Philip and Sophie Goggins - now on YouTube! (Spot Maisie!)

m.youtube.com

Anatomy: Burke to Bioethics

YouTube video by Physicians' Gallery

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

On today’s episode of After Dark I horrify Anthony with tales from the dark history of dissection. Listen here… shows.acast.com/after-dark-h...

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Rebecca Lambert (She/Her) ♾️🐭🍉 @reblambert.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Awesome to hear the ever brilliant @anatomicalcat.bsky.social on today’s episode of After Dark 🙂 open.spotify.com/episode/6oEm...

open.spotify.com

Burke & Hare's Serial Killing Dissection Business

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

I’m a guest co-host on After Dark for the next four weeks! Listen to the first episode here: shows.acast.com/after-dark-h...

A woman and a man sat at a table with microphones. The background is purple and behind them is a bookcase with a neon light which says ‘after dark’

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

A wax model showing the muscles of the torso and head made by surgeon André-Pierre Pinson in the late eighteenth century. It’s currently on display in the Musée de l’Homme, Paris.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

I’m going to be a very busy bee for the next two weeks, so if you’re in Edinburgh and Glasgow and want to see me waving my arms around like this while telling tales from the history of anatomy there are no less than FOUR opportunities to do so!

A red haired woman in a black dress walking either arms outstretched with an image of lithotomy on the screen behind her

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Come and join us! Very excited to be talking to these incredible women

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

The top of Charles Darwin’s memento mori walking stick, which he used as he got older to remind himself of the preciousness of life. Currently on display at the Wellcome Collection as part of their exhibition ‘The Coming of Age’.

A skull carved out of whale bone/ivory with green jewels on the eye sockets. Against a geeen background

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Just hit ‘send’ on the first draft! CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD: The Lives of Human Remains to be published by HarperCollins (UK) and St Martin’s Press (North America) in Spring 2028.

A laptop screen with the words CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD: The Lives of Human Remains by Cat Irving

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

It’s been a busy couple of weeks and in the midst of it all this beautiful new book on the wax models of the Josephinum in Vienna winged its way to me! Now my Friday evening is being spent enjoying its company 🖤

A book called the beauty of anatomy with a purplish cover featuring an anatomical Venus. Sitting on a woods table with a plant pot in the shape of a skull behind

The previous book open to a double page spread of a reckoning flayed male figure seen from two angles

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Fell a bit in love with Serena Korda’s Wild Apples in the Wellcome Collection today. It uses the bodies of perimenopausal, menopausal and post-menopausal women to respond to the wax Anatomical Venuses I’ve talked about here in the past.

A sitting and a standing ceramic female figure, they are both turquoise and have half their heads anatomised. The standing figure has their abdomen opened and has their hand outstretched holding an apple

The previous standing figure viewed from the front.

A different view of the first seated figure with a different anatomised figure in the background

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Today has been a day of editing, watched over by this very sweet we chap from @crimsonpins.bsky.social

An embroidered skeleton in a gold coffin shaped mount against a green wall

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

The bone crypt of Rothwell Holy Trinity Church. It’s been a few years since I was last here so think I’m about due a return visit. The crypt itself dates to the early thirteenth century, and would have been used to store bones dug up from the graveyard to make way for new graves.

An arched vault with a pile of bones in front of shelves of skulls

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

A wax model showing the anatomy of the throat. The coloured ribbons are connected to labels which identify the structures. You can find it in the Brussels Musée de la Médecine

A wax model of a male head with a thin dark moustache tilted back. The jaw and front of the throat are removed and five coloured ribbons are attached stretching downwards

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

A wax model showing the skin reflected back and the top section of the skull removed to reveal the brain. It was one of the many beautiful models made by Joseph Towne during his fifty-three years working at Guy’s hospital in the nineteenth century

A wax model showing a head severed at the neck. The face is of a man with eye closed and lips slightly open. The skin is pulled down, shading the eyes. The brain can be seen. The model is on an ebonised base against a background of Yves Klein blue.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

This event will be brilliant - come along if you’re in Edinburgh or environs!

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Snowy Szafran @snowyszafran.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Just spotted my pal Cat on TV being interviewed by Vicky McClure. She is a bloody brilliant human being.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Talking Burke, Hare and body dissection with Vicky McClure and Jonny Owen for Sky History’s Britain’s Murder Map!

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Artists have long studied anatomy to try and make their work more realistic. In 1801 sculptor Thomas Banks and painters Benjamin West and Richard Cosway decided to look at the anatomical accuracy of depictions of Christ being crucified.

A pale brick wall with a black crucifix mounted on it. On the crucifix is a flayed plaster figure.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

A rather sneaky memento mori figure with his arrow in the cloister of Mainz Cathedral

A figure of a death as an anthropomorphised death in a robe clutching an arrow in grey stone the foreground with a red stone gothic building behind.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

One of my first conversations when back at work after a couple of weeks away was about anatomical models, so here’s a beautiful one. Made by Clemente Susini in eighteenth century Florence, it shows the anatomy of the head and neck, and can now be seen in La Specola in Florence.

A wax model of the head seen from the right side and dissected. It is positioned on a white cloth on a wooden board.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Another of Louis Auzoux’s dissectible papier-mâché mannequins, this time in the Musée d’histoire de la Médecine in Paris 🖤

A model of a dissected figure photographed from mid torso upwards. The head is turned towards the viewer. The background is a golden wood.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Coming to Glasgow in May! www.eventbrite.com/e/then-and-n...

Poster with an illustration of a dissected body and the text
Then and Now
A history of Dissection and Body Donation with Professor Paul Rea and Cat Irving
12th May 2026
Lecture Theatre 236
Thomson Building
University of Glasgow

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Surgeons' Hall Museum @surgeonshall.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Our new events programme has launched! Our spring programme is incredibly varied- from vaping to 300 years of Edinburgh Medical School. 🧵👇

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Surgeons' Hall Museum @surgeonshall.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Cat Irving (@anatomicalcat.bsky.social) will be joined by Katie Stringer, one of the editors of The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Heritage and Death, for a discussion of the themes and ideas explored in this landmark publication. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dissecting...

Black background with the cover of the Routledge Book on the left. The cover depicts a momento mori carving of a skull wearing a flower crown with an hour glass next to it. There is white and red text to the right of the image which reads: Dissecting the Author. The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Heritage, and Death. Online Event. Thursday 7 May. 7pm

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Surgeons' Hall Museum @surgeonshall.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

In this talk, Human Remains Conservator @anatomicalcat.bsky.social explores how anatomical knowledge has influenced artistic attempts to understand and depict the physical realities of crucifixion. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lunch-time...

Maroon background surrounded by a decorative gold frame. There is white text in the middle with reads: Lunch Time Talk: Anatomy and Crucifixion Imagery in Art. Thursday the 14th of May. 1.15pm

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Anatomical models made by surgeon André-Pierre Pinson in the late eighteenth century on display in the Musée de l’Homme, Paris. Looking forward to being back in Paris next week!

A wax model showing the head in sagittal section.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

On the lower floor of Michaelskapelle in Iphofen, Germany, you can find the only remaining ossuary in Lower Franconia. It was an extraordinary place to visit yesterday.

Steps lined with human skulls. Behind is a wall of bones.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

A wonderful memento mori figure at the base of a crucifix in the museum of Mainz cathedral.

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Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Met this rather lovely skeleton on a seventeenth century tomb in Liège Cathedral today…

A black wall tomb with a white skeleton holding up a black sheet.

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Daniel Pietersen @pietersender.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

We made a stop in Liége today to see Guillaume Geefs’ ‘Le génie du mal’, known to the internet as Stupid Sexy Satan. It’s quite a thing to behold but in person you see some easily-missed details…

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